"I Greased That Gook", Tales of Sturgis

Our travels in life bring us some different experiences. Sometimes we meet some great fun folk and sometimes we meet a few weird ones.

In 1990 I had the opportunity to ride motorcycle from Manitoba to South Dakota. I tagged along with my Cousin Larry and his good buddy John. They were both older than I am and they drove the required Harley Davidsons. I rode a V65 Magna Honda. A nice bike but no Electric Glide or Softail. This was the 50th anniversary of the Sturgis Bike Rally and it was a big deal.  The ride there was filled with some interesting events. When we got to the United States border they would not let my cousin in. So he told us to go ahead and he would catch and meet us somewhere. We agreed to wait for him in Bismark North Dakota. Sure enough he made it there. It was odd they wouldn't let him in but he did have a record but still he was invoking the Jay Treaty. Jay Treaty is suppose ensure free passage through the United States from Canada for Indians. Problem with traveling, your plans could be upset by some power-mad individual.

On the trip we met a few people. At this one stop for a quick rest, there were a lot of Bikers stopped as well. There was this old Ford truck and it was pulling a trailer with a couple of bikes on it. One of the bikes was an old wrecked looking Honda Gold Wing. The other bike was an old looking Sportster. Both bikes, the trailer, the truck looked in ragged out shape. An old guy was driving the truck. He came over and started talking to us. "Where you from?" We told him we were from Canada. He says "I tried to go Canada this one time and didn't get let in."  Me I am a nosey guy so I asked him, "How come?"  He says with an American accent "I shot this here Neegar this one time."  Oh.
So we kind of walked away from there. We had a lot to say after we were not near this crazy old redneck hill billy. So it was really the first time meeting an honest to god hillbilly. It was everything you expect a hillbilly to be.

We met this other guy on our way to the bike rally. He was this balding bald lanky tall white guy driving a Harley. We had his company on our ride for a while, until John chased him away. John didn't get a good feeling from this guy. I thought the guy was a bullshitter but entertaining. He told us he was a Vietnam veteran. I asked him if he ever got shot or shot someone. He said "he got shot through the foot."  I asked him how and he said he was laying down in the shooter position. What did you do I asked him. He said, "I turned around and greased that gook."  So we didn't have him along with us for any longer. John didn't like him and told him to beat it. John is this Polish fellow who didn't like that kind of talk. John is a spitting image of Yanni.

We finally made it in to the town of Sturgis South Dakota. It was hot and we were tired. The streets were filled with bikes and Bikers. We pulled into this parking lot which was full of Bikes and people. We laid down on the ground by the bikes to get a bit of rest. A big tall long haired Biker came up to us and said were are you staying. We said we just got there and didn't know. He was at least 6 foot 6 and mean looking. He told us we can stay in the back yard of a house he was staying at. We accepted and said thanks. He got into John's face and said "you don't steal do you?' No was all we could say and he said "well you are not going to steal from me."  So it was an interesting welcome to the rally. We were so lucky to get a good back yard to camp in as camping area is premium at Sturgis.

The bike rally, it is like you would expect, people everywhere, with Bikers wearing their vests; Bandidos, Hells Angels, Blue Knights, Fifth Chapter, Ex-Wino's etc. Lot of people with many different stories. Thing is they didn't go around bullying or anything. Walking was a task with crowded sidewalks and if you met some big dudes, they didn't shove you and shared the street.  One biker mom yelled at us as we walked passed her sales booth. Her little boy was asking us to buy something and we didn't hear him. So that upset her. We said sorry, spoke to him for a bit and left.

The thing about traveling is the not only the beautiful sites you see but the people you meet. You may meet some good interesting people and forget about them. It is the unhinged or weird that sticks in your mind.

I try to be memorable.